Paper Mill Names Hoebee Artistic Director

After a very challenging 2007, Mark S. Hoebee is going forward at Paper Mill Playhouse.
Hoebee was named artistic director of the New Jersey non-profit theater in a closed board session yesterday.
Mark Hoebee joined the Paper Mill Playhouse staff in 2000 and was named associate artistic director in 2003. In early 2007, he was named acting artistic director, just months before the theater announced a nearly $3 million deficit that threatened to shut its doors before the end of the 2006-2007 season.

Mark Hoebee, Artistic Director of Paper Mill Playhouse.

The board's decision comes on the heels of a re-structuring plan that started by hiring executive director, Mark W. Jones, last fall. Jones, touted as a theater fixer, was brought on board to restore the Playhouse to its former healthy financial state and take it into the future.
Now in a state of revitalization, Paper Mill Playhouse is enjoying a season that is providing "excellent entertainment options," said a "thrilled and honored" Hoebee.
"Starting with this season, I feel like I've been able to lead the theater in the direction that we all believe is the future," said Hoebee who selected shows jointly with former managing director Diane Claussen. "We're responding to our community... at a theater in New Jersey that is like none other."
Little more than a week before Paper Mill opens its production of "The Miracle Worker" Hoebee is experiencing the wonders of a bright future at Paper Mill.
"My commitment to the theater has always been 100 percent in whatever capacity and whatever staff position I've been on," he said. "My goal was always to make sure the best management team was in place to lead the theater forward. I believed I could be that person, but what I'm honored and thrilled about is that the board recognized that and endorsed it."